Flash flood

I was visiting Shropshire, UK, when I woke abruptly in the early morning. Outside it was hot and humid. As I was sitting facing the window I saw a bright single-point flash of vivid blue light through the thin curtains, just as if I had looked at a photographer's flash going off. Then there was a single heavy rumble of thunder followed by a sudden and intense downpour of rain, lasting only a few minutes. Then all was quiet.

Later, looking through the same window, I realised the location of the flash was a lightning conductor on the roof of a school. Talking to others I discovered the whole event had been very localised, not even extending across the village.

I thought thunderstorms worked on a larger scale. How had there just been the single flash at the lightning conductor and such a small-scale storm, contained within a hundred metres of the school?

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